The votes are in and the results have been tabulated: after a week of nominations and voting by our community, ELGL is thrilled to announce the winner of the Knope of the Week! As a reminder, The Knope of the Week honors individuals or groups who have done the most in the past week to advance the mission of ELGL.

Without further ado, the winner of the 28th Knope of the Week goes to the . . . . 

Dr. Thomas Potiowsky, Former Oregon State Economist and Current PSU Chair of Economics

With a sell out crowd watching on, Dr. Tom did not disappoint in presenting a well rounded look at the recession and how we got here. He used a mix of PowerPoint slides, economist jokes, and interesting anecdotes to keep the presentation interesting and relevant to the public sector. Here are a few takeaways:

• Oregon has never missed a recession.
• Recessions are like snow flakes, no two are the same.
• State and local governments are responsible for creating an economic garden.
• The bleeding for state and local government is almost over.
• A return to 2007 levels might happen by 2014.
• Oregon’s worst recession was experienced in the early 80s.
• The State receives more lottery revenue than corporate income tax revenue.
• In presenting to elected officials, remember that they often attach emotions to certain numbers and percentages.
• The most memorable point of Tom’s presentation was the final story about “what is the right thing to do?” 

Many thanks to Tom for the insightful presentation and for staying past the allotted time to answer audience questions. ELGL thanks Will Norris for organizing the forum. Good luck to Will as he heads to the LBC.

Previous Knope of the Week Recipients

• Dave Waffle, City of Beaverton Assistant Finance Director
• Joe Gall, City of Sherwood City Manager
• Governor Gregoire and Staff
• Umpqua Bank (Barbara Baker, Michelle Van Allen, Nancy Lloyd, Robert Cross)
• Jessica Struyk, PSU MPA, cities of Beaverton and Fairview
• Patrick Quinton, Portland Development Commission Executive Director
• Bryan Cosgrove (Wilsonville), Marty Wine (Tigard), Michael Brown (Hillsboro)
• Chris Workman, City of Veneta
• Portland Timbers (Mike Golub, Chelsey Cossey, Patti Peters, Amber Browne)
• Anthony Petchel, Bank of the Cascades
• Claire Oliver, West Linn Tidings
• Phil Keisling, Director of Portland State University Center for Public Service
• Geoff Pursinger, Tigard Times
• Ken Ray, Metro Senior Public Affairs Coordinator
• Alliance Resources Consulting, Colin Baenzinger and Associates, Strategic Government Resources, Waldron & Associates
• OMFOA Developing Professionals (Heidi Starks, Rhyan Van Horn, Toby LaFrance)
• Justin Cutler (LaPine Parks & Rec), Robyn Christie (Bend), Kirsten Wyatt (West Linn)
• Rhyan Van Horn, TriMet senior accountant
• ELGL Advisory Board
• Cate Schneider, Lake Oswego city recorder
• Alex McIntyre, Lake Oswego city manager
• Matt Bailing, Willamette graduate, ELGL data analyst
• Megan Messmer, PSU MPA student, City of Banks intern, City of Dayton intern
• Zoe Monahan, Sherwood assistant planner
• Rosalynn Greene, Clackamas County sustainability analyst and Karen Pearson, Clackamas County human resources program coordinator
• Kathy Mollusky, West Linn city recorder
• Jordan Wheeler, Lake Oswego assistant to the city manager

Knope of the Week Acceptance Speeches